‘Jesus Camp’ teaches kids abuse, not love
AS a mother and grandmother, I was outraged after reading your article on the documentary film “Jesus Camp” [“God’s Boot Camp?,” by Gina Piccalo, Sept. 25]. It is not only Pastor Becky Fischer, founder of the controversial evangelical Christian children’s camp, who should be vilified for exploiting children to propagandize a right-wing political agenda. Parents should also be held accountable for allowing their children to be psychologically abused under the guise of religion.
PHYLLIS LANDIS
Los Angeles
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Ihave seen the YouTube preview for the film “Jesus Camp.” I was saddened.
It wasn’t so much the youngsters dressed in army fatigues performing an interpretive dance with what amounted to weapons in their hands, or the admission by a child that he was “saved” sometime before starting first grade (what possible sins a 5-year-old commits is beyond me). It wasn’t the overbearing pastor and founder of Jesus Camp, Becky Fischer, screaming, “This is war” to weeping preteens that saddened me.
What saddened me was the gut feeling I received when I realized how opposite it all is to the actual meanings behind Jesus’ teachings of compassion, love and peace. “This is a sick ol’ world,” the pastor says. This film will be good evidence of that.
LEE UNDERWOOD
Long Beach
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